We to a big leap of faith, quit our jobs are moved to the the heart of the Shawnee National Forest to follow our dreams of self sufficiency and to make a go of living off the land… Can we help you feed your family?

breastfeeding Tag

Back when Addie was about a month, at my own chiropractic visit I was describing her digestive issues to my chiropractor Dr. Lamb and he mentioned in passing that it might be the results of a little bit of leaky gut action in me. For whatever reason, likely because I didn't fully understand what leaky gut meant to a nursing relationship, I never thought much about it again.
Now, Adalyn is 6 months old and I'm really doing my research (on leaky gut in a breast-feeding mother), I can't believe that it's taken me this long to fully learn about how healing a leaky gut could possibly make our lives a whole lot easier.
Leaky gut in a breast-feeding mom means that your food isn't properly being digested and furthermore that the...

Tomorrow will be the first time in almost 10 weeks that I'll be without Everly! For the last 10 weeks I haven't spent more than an hour or two away from her. Tomorrow I'll be spending 8 whole hours away from her, I am not sure how I feel about this.
She'll be hanging out at home with N while I go to an all day marching band rehearsal.
N wasn't jazzed about spending the day hanging around the school taking care of E (so I could breastfeed her on demand) while I am working. I don't blame him, if I were him would rather spend my Saturday at home relaxing.
Besides It's better that she's not out in the heat and blazing sun for that long anyway...

Joking insults are flying around the house these days which means, we must me getting back to normal and catching up on sleep or something. The joking insults are a pretty good sign, means we still like each other enough to make an effort and that our humor is returning.
Things like "douchebag-deluxe" and "breastfeeding like a hunchback" are the most recent ones...

We have been trying to get Everly to take a bottle and a pacifier, you know so one day we'll be able to have a date night or something.
Plus, I would prefer to leave her with a sitter sometimes while I am working...

Today I saw a news report about a woman who was homebirthing here in Indiana whose baby didn't make it. The story portrayed all homebirths as unsafe and crazy. It even incorrectly referred to the birth as unassisted (midwives were present) and did nothing but scare people. While the story did have a tragic outcome it's not a accurate representative of most homebirths and that is why they story upsets me.
Homebirth is not for every woman and every pregnancy which is why there needs to be adequate laws and regulations in place to protect women and midwives (like there are in Tennessee). Homebirth should be an acceptable and viable option for most but thanks to one sided stories, scare tactics and profit driven laws it is not. This is sad...

Everly is screaming and has been doing so, consistently, since yesterday. I am just sitting down to try writing a blog post and I can't for the life of me remember what it was I was going to write about now, figures!
E shot more poop around this morning while I was changing her. Every time she does it I just can't help but laugh. Now I am washing a blanket from the bed and scrubbing some orange poo spots on the carpet when I get a few free moments.
*drinks some cold grape powerade*
Ah, yes! The powerade. So I lived in hot, miserable, Phoenix, AZ for 22 years of my life. 100+ degree temperatures were the norm and I wasn't the best at staying hydrated. I was like a camel, didn't...

Gosh, I don't know what the damn problem is. It could be the lack of sleep catching up with me or it could be the crappy sleeping positions when I am able to rest. They've strained my neck I think.
Oh, I guess the ear piercing shrieks that E lets out every 30-45 minutes for no apparent reasion could also be to blame. Whatever the cause, the fact is I've got a killer headache that's been around for several days now and it's pretty annoying.
It's like someone shot a nail gun through the top, back of my head or something and it's making me a crappy mom right now. Her crying is sending me through the roof and she's doing it lots today.
Wednesday she was having a good day, the last...

This weekend has been somewhat enjoyable. Having N home to take some of the pressure off me is nice. Everly seems to be doing better this weekend with her fussiness too.
We've been doing much experimenting with my diet and other causes of her fussiness and gas. The first thing I did was take dairy out of my diet since I know many other moms (like Veronica) have shared their own issues with breastfeeding and dairy.
Everly's gas and fussing didn't improve when I went without dairy for several days. Now I am going without chocolate to see if that is the culprit. Much reading has indicated that chocolate is a problem for many breastfeeding mothers. We are also going to try removing coffee/ caffeine from the diet after we finish testing...

Immediately following birth Everly and I laid skin to skin for about 20 min. The skin to skin contact is said to improve breastfeeding outcome and facilitate bonding between mother and child. While we waited for the umbilical cord to stop pulsating and the placenta to deliver Everly and I just laid there in all our messy glory enjoying each other's company.
Once the umbilical cord stopped pulsating N cut it and she began to nurse right away. Nursing within the first 30 min or so following birth is highly recommended by lactation consultants when it is possible so we held off on taking her weight and length measurements so I could nurse awhile.
When the time came to inspect the damages Everly and I went our separate ways, she got her...

Everly has a "witching hour" It is from about midnight to 3am, interestingly enough that was the time of transition and trauma in her life. She was born at 1:16am remember?
Anyway, there have only been like 3 nights over the course of the week where she's been a handful during her witching hour...

The last week has been a whirlwind! Everly Charlotte was born on June 23rd 2009 at 1:16am. She weighed 8lbs 12oz and was 21 inches long, her head measured 34 1/2 cm. She was way bigger than we expected her to be but as you'll see by the photos she is darn good and healthy! She was even born with hair which makes me so happy (I was born bald), her hair is red too.
Her Apgar scores were 9 at 1 min & 10 at 5 min, which is great. She was feeding like a champ right after birth too, they placed her on my chest right after she was out and she found the nipple no problem. I was even feeding her as they wheeled me through the hospital...